Bread, Body, Spirit: Finding the Sacred in Food

"How can we find what is sublime in our everyday encounters with food? Where is God in the supermarket? Can we see the holy in a strawberry?" —from the Introduction Food plays a remarkable role in the daily routine of our lives. Whether we make time to eat with our families, or hit the drive-through on the way to doing something else, food and how we approach it has the extraordinary power to unite us with others and nurture our connection to the Divine. Provocative and insightful, the eclectic and beautiful pieces in this book will open your eyes to the awe-inspiring link between nourishment and nirvana. Drawing from many faith traditions and backgrounds—including Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, Native American and Sikh—the words in this volume paint a glorious picture of the sanctity waiting to be discovered in a thing so simple—and yet so divine—as food. Contributors: Diana Abu-Jaber • Diane Ackerman • Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya • Barbara Tanner Angell • Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Sensei • The Rev. Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows • Michael Benedikt • Wendell Berry • Brother Lawrence • Edward Espe Brown • Martin Buber •Elias Canetti • Lynn L. Caruso • Joan Chittister, OSB • Laurie Colwin • Amanda Cook • Mary Beth Crain • Lama Surya Das • Ram Dass • Marc David • Zen Master Eihei Dogen • Meister Eckhart • Rick Fields • Betty Fussell • Kahlil Gibran • Bernard Glassman • Jane Goodall • Julia S. Kasdorf • Karyn D. Kedar • Haven Kimmel • Barbara Kingsolver • Jacqueline Kramer • Rabbi Irwin Kula • Julius Lester • Alison Luterman • Jalal ad-Din ar-Rumi • Sister Miriam Therese MacGillis • J. B. MacKinnon • Sara Miles • Helen Nearing • Bich Minh Nguyen • Vanessa L. Ochs • Mary Oliver • Mary Rose O’Reilley • Grace Paley • Lawrence Raab • Omid Safi • Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji • Rabbi Zalman M. Schachter-Shalomi • Lynne Meredith Schreiber • Rabbi Rami Shapiro • Guru Gobind Singh • Alisa Smith • Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki • Jessica Swift • Nancy Willard • Kristen Wolf